Lightly Scalded Chicken Wings--How, and Do They Work?

3885 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by NRD, Jan 12, 2012

NRD

Discussion Starter · Jan 11, 2012

Yesterday I took Blizzy and Snowball, my two white DSLs, to the vet for their annual physical and shots. They are 2-1/2 and 3, respectively, Blizzy had a dental cleaning last Spring, as he seems genetically predisposed to gingivitis. They eat reasonably healthy, no grains, Evo, Weruva, Wellness wet, plus Evo dry cat & kitten for lunch. Anyway, they both have gingivitis, to the point I'm going to need to take them in this spring for a cleaning. Same with Hershey, whose physical was last week.

Leaving aside the fact I should try to brush their teeth, which I know I'll never do faithfully, and I've tried Leba III to reduce plaque and they hated it--I've read that allowing them to gnaw on lightly scalded chicken wings should be very healthy and allow them to keep their teeth cleaner.

I was wondering if anyone has experience with this, and if so, how do you go about "lightly scalding" the wings so that they do not get cooked and brittle and thus susceptible to splintering?

Thanks in advance.

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BotanyBlack

· #2 · Jan 11, 2012

not sure about lightly scalded.. I just give my cats the wings raw, and my vet thinks they have the best teeth ever. when my 18 year old went in for a dental check to see if that was causing his sinus infection (turned out to be a grain allergy) she made a it a point to tell me he had great teeth and she was set to do an extraction if necessary..

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MowMow

· #3 · Jan 11, 2012

Why bother scalding at all? Why not just give the raw wings?

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NRD

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 12, 2012

Yeah, you may both be right. Dr. Fox, a vet whose weekly column I've read in the Washington Post for years, had suggested the scalding to get rid of any bacteria on the wings. But so long as they are bought fresh and rinsed properly, I think you have given me my answer--so thanks! I'd better get started, as I probably should have been doing this for the past two years!

I'll then replace one problem with another, though it's a good switch. Whenever I try to give them treats of any kind--and these wings will be seen as treats par excellence--the closest thing to chaos ensues among them, as I try to ensure each of the four gets his/her own. I think I'll try to give them to them just as I do their meals, one at a time, same positions, but quickly, as they have learned to wait in place as I serve them their meals. Can't wait to get started tomorrow!

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NRD

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 12, 2012

By the way, I assume I should start by cutting them up into smaller pieces, to help them while they build up jaw strength.

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Muzby

· #6 · Jan 12, 2012

Wings are hard to cats to chew, the bones/skin are hard to get through. I would smash them with a mallet to break the bones and possibly also cut onto them at first so the cats have something to start chewing on. Once they get their jaw strength up, they can handle whole bones and no cut skin.

Also, if this is a successful venture for you - you may not need the dentals at all. My cat is 17 - had horrid teeth and was in "desperate need of dental cleaning" (as per vet). Switched to raw, and he no longer needs the cleaning. Saved me thousands of dollars!!

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NRD

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 12, 2012

OK, thanks for the tips. I've got a mallet and the financial incentive to get this to work--plus, at least two, and possibly three of my four, go bonkers whenever I feed them raw. So this could be win, win win. Today I start.

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NRD

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 12, 2012

Aha, not trying to create a new problem (constipation) by dealing with another one! I have fed raw occasionally to them, and three of the four (all but my lady, Snowball) seemed to love it from the get-go, in fact they got very excited.

I'm not an expert on chicken wing anatomy, so I don't yet know which part is the drummette, but since from your description it must be the thickest bone, I should be able to figure that out and remove it. To be honest, I think my biggest problem will be finding a space where I can cut up the wings into three pieces without my Brown Brothers (Hersh and Little Hersh) jumping all over me trying to get at them, lol!

Thanks again, I will avoid overcalcifying them.

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Alpaca

· #9 · Jan 12, 2012

You can see for yourself which part is which right here:

Anyways, if that seems like too much work, you can always opt for quail wings although they are much smaller and quail is more expensive. Some ppl feed cornish hen too. I feed whole quail which I cut up. There's bone on the neck, wings, ribs so since the bird is small, my smallest cat at 7lbs has no problem with any of the parts.

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NRD

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jan 12, 2012

You guys make it so easy!

I was going to Google later, but now I've got it. And now I can see what AC was talking about, in terms of cutting wingtip joint and between the two middle bones. Bought a large package of chicken wings this afternoon, will try including with a smaller portion of their normal wet food tonight, but will go get some raw meals for the future, so this can be used as part of their raw meals.

Hershey in particular gets very excited whenever I bring raw meat out of the fridge, even if it's just ground turkey, so I imagine it will be a challenge for me to cut up the chicken wings tonight without his trying to steal them out of my hand. I imagine Hersh and Little Hersh will grab the chicken wings out of their dishes and run and hide to enjoy their "catches", since that's what they do whenever they steal food from me.

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Ritzpg

· #11 · Jan 12, 2012

Another source of bone is rabbit. You can find rabbit (frozen) in the international grocery stores, like H Mart, as well as the smaller international/Asian markets. Ritz has no problems eating bone from Cornish Hen, Rabbit or Quail.
Ritz had a dental cleaning last May for gingivitus, at the ripe old age of 2

She goes in for a Wellness Check in two weeks. I'll be interested in learning what her dentist thinks of her teeth.

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NRD

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jan 12, 2012

Yes, please let us know if her teeth are still clean. I'm doing this because BLizzy had a dental cleaning last summer and already he's got gingivitis again. Plus, I think they'll love it.

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